New elk strategies for a changing hunting culture

grossklw

Lil-Rokslider
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Mar 24, 2017
Messages
224
Location
Wisconsin
They are where you find them, I've killed them anywhere from a mile to 5 miles in from a trailhead. If they're 5 miles in I'll hunt them there, but there's something to be said for being mobile. If I'm hunting a new spot I'll hunt from the truck the first few days and if I get into them more than 2 miles in I'll likely spike in.

It's a big gamble hiking in 5 miles to an area you've never been and expect there to be elk.
 

Laramie

WKR
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
2,616
Elk try to avoid being hunted. They will go where they are not bothered 9 times out of 10. Sometimes that is super deep in nasty country. Sometimes that is in a small overlooked place close to a main road that doesn't look like it would hold anything.
 
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Praxeus

Lil-Rokslider
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Feb 1, 2019
Messages
150
After reading through all these responses again......it sounds like the elk have changed their tactics as well. And as noted previously, its not the hunters.......wolves.
 

Seamaster

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
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130
Walk where the horses do not like to go and spike camp somewhere between the many truck campers/day hikers and the outfitters/pony boys.

Use you boots (not your truck) to stay mobile, get off the trails, and you have a chance.
 

Huntnnw

WKR
Joined
May 25, 2015
Messages
442
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Rockford,WA
I have a water hole spot where elk and wolves hit every single day . Pics of wolves and elk as close as a hour apart . 12,000+ pics in 3 months with elk never leaving due to wolves
 
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Praxeus

Lil-Rokslider
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Feb 1, 2019
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I have a water hole spot where elk and wolves hit every single day . Pics of wolves and elk as close as a hour apart . 12,000+ pics in 3 months with elk never leaving due to wolves
That is simply amazing
 

Team4LongGun

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NW MT
Am I the only one that finds the irony humorous? Thread is about “new strategies...due to higher Hunter densities” and the solution is to put new said tactics-on the internet....😂
 
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Praxeus

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 1, 2019
Messages
150
Am I the only one that finds the irony humorous? Thread is about “new strategies...due to higher Hunter densities” and the solution is to put new said tactics-on the internet....😂
Lol.....I get ya. The reality is, there not new strategies. Sounds like the old ways are still the best.
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
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Feb 1, 2014
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ID
With the plethora of NR resident hunters pouring into places like Idaho, I have begun to give deeper considerations to changing tactics for elk hunting. The most obvious for me, is going deeper. Instead of having a base camp where the trucks are parked, looking more and more at a remote spike camp set up to access drainages and draws that cannot be reached without hiking...lots of it. Im getting a little older but can see no other options.

Im anxious to hear from some of the capable and experienced elk hunters on this site.
You'll walk by a bunch of elk going"deep". I got into more elk this year in sight of the truck than I did by hiking 5+miles in. Elk have adapted.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
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I have a water hole spot where elk and wolves hit every single day . Pics of wolves and elk as close as a hour apart . 12,000+ pics in 3 months with elk never leaving due to wolves
No one said they leave, they just change their behaviour. Guarantee those elk aren't vocal like elk are that aren't being harassed by wolves.

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Huntnnw

WKR
Joined
May 25, 2015
Messages
442
Location
Rockford,WA
No one said they leave, they just change their behaviour. Guarantee those elk aren't vocal like elk are that aren't being harassed by wolves.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Bugle like any other elk I’ve hunted. Bulls going nuts into mid October
 
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